Hamptons Heat
by ALovedOne
Summary: AU Caskett meeting. Castle has an interesting encounter on his Hamptons property when he finds a naked Kate Beckett in his pool. For Faith.


A prompt that was put under a gifset I can't find & that I was sent a screenshot of: "she is in his Hamptons house naked and they've never met"

 _Happy, happy birthday, Faith! Thanks for being such a great friend and texting with me during weird hours of the day, because we always seem to be in different time zones? Hope you enjoy what I did with the tags/prompt thing you sent me a screenshot of months ago._

 **A/N:** A very AU meeting. Basically, a Caskett meeting in the Hamptons during Beckett's final year of college – just roll with me on this one, guys.

* * *

It's quiet in the Hamptons. He likes that about this place.

Sure, he loves New York, loves that something is always going on. The city that never sleeps. Which suits his sleep rhythm just fine. He's used to the noise of cars and (probably drunk) passengers passing his window; those are the sounds he falls asleep to, almost like a lullaby.

He doesn't startle awake when someone's honking their horn in the middle of the night, or when sirens are shrieking in the distance. It's more of a soundtrack of the city, one he can easily tune out and ignore.

But sometimes, it can be distracting, and he finds himself yearning for a moment of peace and quiet. He has been procrastinating a lot lately, and if he is ever going to finish this book, he needs to free himself of the temptation of listening in on people's conversations outside or staring out the window to observe other people's lives.

Richard Castle, by now, is a well-known name in the book industry – nationally, and slowly but surely internationally as well.

He bought this house last year, when his latest book was another hit. The continuous praise for his work in the past as well as the increasing paychecks finally gives him enough confidence to assume that his success is going to last.

If he keeps writing, that is.

After he determined that he wasn't going to get any more writing done in New York, he entrusted his mother with Alexis for a week (not before giving her a list of dos and don'ts and several hours of lecturing that his mother simply waved off – still, he knew he could count on Martha Rogers to take care of his daughter). Then he packed his things, and drove up to his second home, already feeling more energized the moment the city's impressive skyline began to shrink in his rearview mirror.

* * *

This place here is all still a little foreign to him – the vast amount of space a stark contrast to the loft he moved into not too long ago. Admittedly, the loft isn't small by any standard, but the neighbors are close, the streets outside always crowded, and he can only dream of a back yard or pool in the city.

He is working on making this space a home, hanging pictures of his family and drawings Alexis made all over, but this house isn't filled with stories yet. He wishes he could tell his family of his adventures when he returns, but he doesn't know anyone in the area yet, and if he continues to stay in his office to write (like he should), he really won't change that.

Castle's thoughts wander – a habit apparently not entirely tied to silent or noisy surroundings – and he gazes around his room … anywhere but his loud computer (another recent purchase Rick was proud of, though the item is quite bulky, and he finds himself going back to his old typewriter whenever he feels nostalgic).

His head whips toward the window when he hears a splash.

Castle almost laughs at himself. A little bit of water splashing shouldn't startle him. It's the Hamptons. The sea isn't far away, and tons of people have pools here. One of his neighbors is probably just swimming a bit.

His neighbors… It could be his neighbors, but there are hedges splitting properties and fences and the next house should be away far enough for him stop any and all sounds coming from strangers' homes.

If the splash didn't come from his neighbors' pool, it must have been from his.

Which leads him to question who on earth is on his property. In his pool.

He can't see it from this window, and so he swiftly moves downstairs to investigate. If whoever has snuck in has time to take a swim, Castle is sure it's not a dangerous person. After all, which robber would take time to splash around? So, he feels brave enough to face the intruder, although he does move through the house more slowly and carefully.

Castle steps outside and tiptoes toward the pool, eyes skimming the surroundings for anyone who might be sneaking around. His gaze locks on a figure in the water, back turned to him.

It's a woman, her entire body except for her head submerged in the pool, her brown hair falling over her shoulders and its ends floating in the water.

She hasn't noticed him, hasn't turned around.

"Guys?" she suddenly calls out, and the unexpected sound of her voice makes him jump. "Not funny! Seriously, get back here!"

The woman begins to move over from one end of the pool to the other, right toward the steps. A small part of him just wants to leave and pretend this hasn't happened, noticing that the woman seems eager to just disappear. It was probably just meant to be a stupid prank.

But another, bigger part of him is intrigued and – he has to admit – kind of loving the thought of giving her a bit of a scare.

The stranger has almost reached the steps when he speaks up. "Can I help you with something?"

Her head whips around, her eyes immediately meeting his and widening in shock. _Holy crap, she's gorgeous_ , he thinks the second he sees her face. Young, pretty, sharp cheekbones, and mesmerizing eyes – although he can't really see them that well from a distance.

Castle slowly approaches, while the woman is still too stunned to move or speak. And then the words tumble from her mouth.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry," she rushes to get out. "I… I…," she starts to say, but apparently lacks a good explanation.

There's a moment of silence during which he just continues to observe her face now that he is closer.

"Care to explain why you're in my pool?" he asks, but he's smirking, and he notices the woman sigh in relief once she realizes that he doesn't seem to be angry.

"Sure," she murmurs, looking down, and he swears he can notice a slight tint of red on her cheeks. "It'd just… um… be nice to have some clothes on for this conversation?"

It's only then that he realizes that she's nude. He can make out the blurry outlines of her naked figure for a second, before he stops himself and hurries to cover up his eyes.

His turn to apologize. "Oh god, I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't notice."

"Sure," she hears her reply, but it isn't a murmur anymore, it much more sounds like a teasing chuckle. Not that he can verify that without seeing her face.

"Um… so I'll just turn around and wait for you to put your clothes on," he states and begins to turn his back to her.

Castle stops when she speaks again. "Yeah," she sighs. "That might be a bit complicated."

"How?"

Castle feels silly having a conversation with his eyes covered, but he doesn't want to make her any more uncomfortable. He feels awkward enough, and he wasn't just discovered plunging around naked in someone else's pool.

"You'll get the long explanation in a moment if you want, but the short version is: my friends took my clothes and I don't have anything I could wear right now…"

A moment of silence passes in which Castle tries to piece together a story he knows too little of. It takes him a while to notice that she has stopped speaking, awaiting his reaction, and he jumps in again.

"Alright," he stutters, "that… um… shouldn't be a problem. I'll just go inside real quick and grab you a towel and shirt or something," he suggests.

He finally turns around and drops his hand, blinking against the bright light suddenly hitting his face again. "Don't run away while I'm gone!" he calls over his shoulder, half-joking, half-serious. He thinks he can hear her grunt in response.

She definitely caught his attention, and he has to admit that he'd be a bit disappointed if he would never get to hear the full story.

He rushes inside and quickly finds a large towel for her, then a large t-shirt with the NYPD logo on it that his little smart daughter got him for Christmas once she learned that some of his characters are solving crimes.

He chuckles. The shirt is a bit big even on him; the stranger could probably wear it as a dress.

Though he's aware that she would have had a hard time escaping from the pool without her clothes, he still hurries to get back to her, a little afraid that she found a way or that her friends came back and provided her with an escape.

But when he goes back to the pool, he can spot her silhouette from a distance. He casts his eyes down, but keeps them open to see where he's going. Decency or not, he'd rather not faceplant in front of her.

"Here," he says, putting the shirt on the ground before offering her the towel.

"Don't look," she warns.

Castle shuts his eyes, but when he hears water sloshing and her moving out of his pool, he can't help but peek.

"Hey," she snaps and quickly grabs the towel from him. "I said don't look." He shuts his eyes again and waits. He can hear her breathe. "Okay," she sighs. "You can open your eyes now."

When he does, he notices she only wrapped the towel around her and is holding his shirt in her hand. When he raises an eyebrow in question, she just shrugs.

"Wanted to dry off properly," she explains. "I was gonna put the shirt on once we got inside." He tilts his head. "I mean…," she stutters, "I assumed we were gonna go inside, it's a little chilly, and I just…"

"Let's go inside," he interrupts her, and she just nods, trailing after him once he starts to walk back to his house.

Once they're inside, he sits down on a chair, gesturing around to all the others around the table. "Sit wherever you like."

To his surprise, she sits right next to him, only inches away, still dressed in nothing but a towel. She wrapped it around her and fastened it with a knot in the front, and so he gets to appreciate her shoulders, collarbones, soft skin, and toned arms.

He doesn't know where the t-shirt went, but if he's being honest, he doesn't really care.

"Right," he begins, fighting to stay focused and keep his voice steady. "So… who are you?"

"I'm Kate. Kate Beckett," she replies, biting her lip and brushing her hair behind her eyes.

"Nice to meet you Kate, although it is under curious circumstances," he chuckles and she rolls her eyes, all nervousness gone for a second. "I'm Rick. Rick Castle."

"I know," she admits, and he thinks he might have imagined it before she goes on. "My mom got me one of your books for my birthday and then for Christmas when she realized how fast I'd finished the first."

Kate is back to chewing her lip while he is processing the information.

"So you took a dive because you wanted to see where the amazing author of those books lives?"

"Your characters are much better at solving mysteries than you are," she grins, slowly losing all shyness from earlier.

Castle gasps dramatically and clutches a hand to his heart. "Ouch. Anyway, the comparison isn't fair. My characters solve mysteries _I created_ , they live in worlds and stories _I imagine_. They're good at uncovering secrets, because I can feed them information whenever I want to. This however, is a mystery that involves a story I'm not part of. In this case, I'm afraid, you hold all the answers."

She considers his response before shrugging. "I didn't know this was your house."

"Right." He can't help but to sound suspicious. A woman who admitted to liking his books accidentally stumbled onto his property? Why not literally any other house in the area? "I'm having a hard time believing that."

"Just because I like your books, that doesn't mean I've suddenly become a stalker," she defends herself. He raises his eyebrows at her and she sighs again. "It was truth or dare."

He actually laughs out loud, ignoring the glare she gives him. "Truth or dare, what kind of middle school sleepover are you a part of?"

"College, actually," she corrects him. "Spring break of my senior year before I go to law school. One of my friend's parents own a house up here and they let us have the key for the week."

"So," he leans back and eyes her. "I still can't quite follow. How does a law student play truth or dare and end up in my pool?"

Although she seemed embarrassed during the first minutes of their conversation, he keeps noticing how confidence radiates off her. She is still nervous because he caught her in his pool, but rather than making herself small, she keeps her shoulders back, her back straight, and meets his eyes most of the time.

"It's pretty simple. My friends wanted to challenge me. So they dared me to take a swim in a stranger's pool naked. They were with me, but then they wanted to play a joke on me, so they took my clothes and ran off."

"And you accepted that dare?" Castle chuckles. "Bit of a wild one, are you?" he teases.

"By far not the wildest thing I've done," she says with a smirk, and Castle immediately her flirtatious tone. His eyes automatically flick down to the towel still covering her before he realizes what he's doing.

He swallows and looks back at her. "What is the wildest thing?"

"Not sure I should tell you." She winks, actually _winks_ at him, and his imaginnation conjures up images entirely too inappropriate.

He nods slowly, not wanting to push, but unable to suppress his curiosity.

"Anyway… I'm really sorry I bothered you. I promise it won't happen again."

"You're not the worst person I can imagine to randomly appear naked in my back yard."

Kate Beckett smiles, gets up and moves over to grab the shirt she dropped close to the door. He closes his eyes when she drops the towel and pulls it over her head.

When he opens his eyes again, he is almost disappointed.

"I have to say, I think I preferred the other view," he states as he gets up to show her out – reluctantly.

He doesn't know why, but it's like she cast a spell on him. He knows next to nothing about her, met her under half an hour ago, and yet… he doesn't want to see her leave.

She rolls her eyes at him again, but she can't hide the quirk of her lips.

"Maybe I can arrange something."

His throat goes dry.

She walks back over to him, hips swinging, and he doesn't quite comprehend how someone can make an oversized, shapeless police shirt look so sexy.

She stops when she's right in front of him, and he's having a hard time breathing.

Kate seems to notice, because she chuckles before lifting up on her toes and lightly brushing her lips against his.

"It was nice meeting you, Rick."

He's lost for words, but he places his hands on her sides, pulling her closer toward him rather than letting her go.

"Then why leave so soon?" he challenges and is met with a wide grin.

"I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

They're finally in his bedroom. Earlier, he didn't think he would be able find it fast enough, and so they ended up on the couch, shirt gone in less than a second and carelessly tossed somewhere on the floor not to be picked up again.

Two hours after finding her in his pool, the door bell rung, her slightly ashamed and mildly concerned friends asking him if he'd seen Kate anywhere.

She'd shown up at the gate wrapped in nothing but the towel again, winked at them, and the group scattered.

When they weren't busy engaging in… other activities, they talked. He quickly learned that she was a free spirit but a responsible and ambitious woman, and he answered honestly when she asked about his life.

Unlike many women he'd encountered, she wasn't put off by him having a child, the most important person in his life. Rather, she listened and smiled when he excitedly told her all his favorite stories about Alexis.

It is too soon to speak of anything more than genuine affection, but Castle can't deny he is more than intrigued and definitely attracted to her.

It's an attraction he doesn't fully comprehend; he wants to make her laugh, because he thinks the sound of it is one of the best he's ever heard, learn about her wild life, because he's sure the woman currently laying in his arms has countless exciting tales to reveal. He just doesn't know them yet.

* * *

Years later, and no matter how many times he tells the story of how they met, he doesn't get tired of it. Neither do listeners, squealing in disbelief when he recounts the story.

By now, Kate finished law school, transferred to Harvard after finishing her senior year at Stanford. Her relocation makes it easier for them to visit each other, though her busy schedule continues to be an obstacle. But they manage. She graduates, moves back to the city, and they're still going strong.

His family met her the summer after she unexpectedly turned up in his pool. Alexis and Martha quickly approved of Kate, especially after she came to see Martha in a play and played a round of laser tag in his loft with Rick and his daughter. Though Castle is still upset she defeated him, her aim better than he expected.

He met her family one rainy afternoon in the apartment Kate grew up in. She got all flustered when her mom pulled out her collection of his books and asked him to sign one. Her parents are kind and make him feel safe, though the look in both of her parents' eyes when he first shook their hands told him there'd be consequences if he were to ever hurt their daughter.

They return to the Hamptons whenever they need a getaway from the city. Her life as one of the most successful lawyers is hectic, and his writing career is as successful as it has ever been. His latest bestseller has just been published, a story of a hot lawyer fighting rigorously for more justice in the city.

The house in the Hamptons is their safe haven, an escape for when it all gets to be too much, a place that holds so much meaning for them.

It only makes sense that he proposes here, that they bring their kids here regularly years later.

The house is a home now, filled with plenty of stories and adventures.

He loves to think back to the one that started it all.


End file.
